The double-blind situation in families of disturbed children

The interpersonal conditions of the double-blind situation were examined in the interaction of 15 families containing a symptom-bearing child. It was found that the greatest prevalence of conflicting communication occurred between the symptomatic children and their mothers, that the symptomatic children responded to incongruous communication with more avoidance behavior than their siblings, and that extreme interpersonal closeness or distance between mother and symptomatic child was associated with greater occurrence of conflicting communication.